1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sanitary device comprising a tub and a tub encasement. The tub may be a shower tub, a bathtub or also a whirlpool tub, to which the required installations are connected to the outer side.
2. The Prior Art
According to the prior art, a tub is embedded in a tub support made of foamed plastic material. Thin-walled plastic panels produced by deep drawing are used as tub encasements, such panels being connected with the tub support. A tub support in the form of a foam body is disadvantageous when complicated installations are required on the outer side of the tub, for example with a whirlpool tub.
Arrangements are also known in which a tub is arranged on feet and a tub encasement is provided on the outer side. The encasement consists of a support construction and thin-walled encasement elements secured on the support construction (DE-A 198 01 043). With this design, adequate installation space is in fact available between the tub and the tub encasement that can be used for accommodating the installations. However, the tub encasement requires much expenditure in terms of construction and has no sound absorption power. Body sound is transmitted without any damping. Knocks against the encasement, for example when the encasement is cleaned, are connected with annoying noise that is perceived also as a rattling or humming noise.
The invention addresses the problem of proposing a sound-damping tub encasement that offers adequate installation space for installations. In particular, the invention addresses installations on a whirlpool tub.
The invention solves this problem with a sanitary device comprising a tub arranged on feet, and a tub encasement. The tub encasement is structured in the form of a supporting construction unit whose structure is made up of panels. At least the panels that are visible in a room consist of a hard integral polyurethane foam material and have a decorative coating. For components of the tub encasement that border directly on a wall of the room, other panel materials such as, for example Styropor panels can be used as well. However, the components of the encasement are preferably made of hard integral polyurethane foam material. Panels that adjoin a wall of the room and are not visible need not have any decorative coating.
The panels produced in the form of hard integral foam material elements may have complicated shapes. In addition to providing their front side with aesthetically pleasing designs, reinforcing ribs may be molded to the inside of the front sides for enhancing the dimensional stability. Owing to the cellular structure, which may still be present even in molded panels that are relatively massive, the tub encasement as defined by the invention not only forms a frame supporting the tub, but also has good absorption power for body sound. The panels may have a density of from 200 to 800 kg/m3, preferably a range of up to about 600 kg/m3. The panels or molded components may be coated with an opaque lacquer. However, the decorative coating of the panels preferably consists of a plastic sheet.
The tub encasement as defined by the invention supports the tub against tilting. The arrangement comprising the tub encasement and the tub can be transported as a mobile sanitary device that has been pre-assembled by the manufacturer. The device is then set up in an otherwise completely furnished bathroom and connected there very quickly to the installations already available on the building side by just a few manipulations. The tub can be lifted from the tub encasement; however, its position within the tub encasement is fixed. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the position of the tub is fixed by means of holding means that are plugged to the top edge of at least one panel arranged on the side of the wall. The holding means have legs on their top sides. One leg of the holding means engages an angled ledge of the tub from behind. Another leg arranged parallel therewith extends as a spacer into a gap between the ledge of the tub and the adjacent wall. The holding means can be screwed to the wall, whereby the surface of the holding means abutting the wall on the wall side is preferably provided with elements for absorbing sound. Extensive absorption of sound can be achieved, for example if the contact of the holding means with the wall is limited to sites contact in the form of lines or points. However, elastomeric sound damping elements can be employed for absorbing sound as well. The holding means are usefully provided with fastening legs located on their undersides, which engage the top edge of the panels in the form of a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d.
The panels can be joined with each other in the form of a frame by means of fittings located on their insides, for example in the form of hinges or angles. In a preferred embodiment, at least one panel accessible to the room is detachably connected by fittings to the adjacent panels of the tub encasement. The fittings consist of fitting components that can be interlocked with each other. The respective accessible panel usefully can be removed for installation and inspection purposes. The front panel extending over the length of the tub is usefully designed as the removable panel. Furthermore, the joints of the panels are usefully shaped in the form of bevels.
In a further development, one panel located on the side of the wall has a lesser height than a front side panel that is visible in the room. The shorter panel is supported on feet forming a free installation space. The inner space between the tub encasement and the tub is accessible owing to such free installation space. This installation space can be used for laying connection lines leading to installations on the side of the building. It is understood that in addition recesses may be located in the back wall of the tub encasement.
For compensating tolerances, a sealing lip is usefully arranged on the top edge of the tub encasement, such sealing lip resting against the underside of the ledge of the tub. Furthermore, the top edge of the panels can be provided with a cover strip that is arranged in front of the ledge of the tub. The cover strip is usefully molded onto the ledge, forming one piece jointly with the ledge, and provided with the decorative coating of the panel.
In practical life, the ledge of sanitary tubs is frequently provided with rounded corners. With large radii of the rounding, gussets may be formed in the corner areas of the tub encasement that have to be sealed. Sealing with the usually employed sealing compounds may be visually unsatisfactory. In an advantageous embodiment, corner filling pieces are connected to the ledge of the tub. These corner filling pieces have contact surfaces which are adapted to the rounded corners of the ledge of the tub. Such corner fillers cover in the corner zones of the tub encasement the gussets between the ledge of the tube and the panels that are joined with each other at an angle. The corner filling pieces can be glued to the ledge of the tub and are visually adapted to the surface of the sanitary tub.